Challenge or comments for computer build.

S

SirJay

New Member
I have a computer that finally went out (the motherboard is fried), and I want to use the memory and hard drive in a new computer. I figured that if I am going to get another motherboard, I might as well get a new case and PSU, ect.

The items I will be reusing from old computer: (1) 40 and (1) 80 GB HD with XP Home pre-installed, (2) 256 MB DDR RAM, 64 MB PCI video card w/ coax in, and a DVD burner.

I am looking for a case and PSU, Processor, CPU, and 128 AGP video card.

New computer: AMD Sempron 2200+ processor, 266 MHz front side bus, 128 MB DDR RAM (it will be replaced), 40 GB HD (also replaced), 52x CD-ROM, 3.5" floppy drive, motherboard (very little information), (2) 5.25" bays, (1) 4x AGP slot, (2) 32-bit PCI slots, 4 USB ports, 2 PS/2 ports, serial, parallel, VGA, game, and audio jacks. Keyboard and mouse included, but will be replaced. 250 wt PSU, Linspire 4.5 Pre-installed (which will be replaced). Outpost #4199563, price $169.99

video card: Diamond Stealth 128 MB AGP video card. Outpost #4311065, price $89.99


I will be planning to use the hard drives, RAM, DVD burner, keyboard, mouse, and booting up the new computer with the pre-installed version of Windows Home. I would like to use the PCI video card in conjuction with the AGP video card. My PCI card has a connection that I can use to watch TV on my monitor, but I would like to use the AGP one to play decent games.

I do have a few questions, but that is what we are here for, right ;)

Question #1
Will there be too much of a conflict to use 2 different types of video cards to make this happen?

Question #2
Will there be any conflicts putting a hard drive that already has XP Home pre-installed, into a different computer?

Question #3-actually a challenge question
Is there anyone that can get a better price for these items? I would like to get it under $300, with shipping. The processor speed is not really that important, but I would like at least a 2.2 Ghz and be able to use my DDR RAM (most can anyway), and a 128MB video card. Any takers :eek: :rolleyes: :cool:
 
Upon building the new PC I would recommend formatting and installing a fresh copy of XP on the HDD.

As for your prices, go here and search for what you care to... it will compare prices of all the stores for you.
 
You said to put a fresh copy of XP on it. Would I be able to do this after I have put the new computer together? Or would it be easier to put the hard drive into an external box and do it from there? Also, they are restore CDs. From my understanding on them, they look for the original hardware, right? If so, there may be some problems. I was thinking about using a full copy of XP, and just using the old key(from the fried computer) on it. Would this work also?

Thanks for the site. I looked at it, and their prices are cheaper then I expected.
 
Yes it will work, but.. if you registered it on the old pc it might have aproblem... if you did register it.. dont do it again...
 
80 GB HD with XP Home pre-installed
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You're prolly gonna have to reinstall anyways

price $169.99
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For that price, i cant really say much :D

video card: Diamond Stealth 128 MB AGP video card. Outpost #4311065, price $89.99
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You can do better for that price :)
Rosewill 9600XT 128
Jayton 9600XT 256

Will there be too much of a conflict to use 2 different types of video cards to make this happen?
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Usually any conflict is a bad thing and not really useful to worry about "too much conflict”
 
update on rebuild

I went to Fry's and I was going to look around to see a few things. I know that newegg was going to be cheaper, but I wanted to see if their "unadvertised" specials would make it worth it. I am glad I did...

Here is what I got and the prices for it:

Abit NF8-V motherboard for $49.99

AMD Sempron 2800+ 754 socket w/ fan and 256 L2 cache for $37.99

ATI Radeon 9200 128MB AGP $39.99 (after rebate)

Raidmax Scorpio 868 case w/ 420wt PSU and 5 fans for $74.99

Total, after tax (and rebate) $232.18

Not too bad, if I may say so.

On the video card: I know I probably could have went with a better one, but it is made by the same company as the PCI one I want to use, so the chances of a conflict would be less.

On the case: It was a little high priced, but after seeing the other prices, I was eager to put this computer together, and not have to wait for the shipping.


I put everything together, just as it is suppose to be, and...there are some problems :(


I can get the initial single beep for the POST, but I can not get the video to come up. I tried it with the monitor hooked up to the AGP card and the PCI one-still nothing. The light on the monitor{edited} does not even change, indicating to me that there is a problem with the signal. Currently, I am working on getting another monitor to test the computer on, but I can hook up this monitor to another computer, and it comes on. There are indicator lights on the motherboard that tells me that the motherboard is getting power. I can hear the hard drives trying to load up, but still nothing on the monitor. I actually got a picture one time, and it said something about the CMOS not being set-up right. I reset the CMOS, and tried it again, but it has not displayed anything after that. I put one of the hard drives in an external box and hooked it to a working computer and I was able to get a few trojans off, but it should not effect the fact that I can not even get to the BIOS/CMOS start-up screen. I can see all the fans working properly.
It looks like I have to nearly start all over again
I will be working on eliminating the possibilities and checking all the connections. I will remove the PCI card, one stick of 256 RAM, and one hard drive and see if it will come on with that. Any recommendations from the experts on other possibilities or items I should be concentrating on?
 
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Final update tonight

It would seem like I have some progress, but have come up to another problem.

I removed one stick of RAM, the secondary hard drive, and the PCI video card. I plug in to monitor, turn it on, and the BIOS screen came up :D ! I then put the secondary hard drive in my external box to try to read it, but it would not come up, which tells me that it is not working at all(odd it was working a couple of days ago). After I made a few minor changes in the BIOS screen, I saved it and exited, and the computer restarted. The computer stopped, and displayed a "system disk error press CTRL+ALT+DEL to restart." I took out the HD and put this one in my external box, and my computer can read it. I did a scandisk on it, and no errors was found. I put it back in the new case, and the same error occurs. Any ideas or suggestions?

Tomorrow, I will be d/l a boot floppy and see if it will start up with it. I have already tried to boot it with a startup disk, but no luck. I was going to d/l just in case it is different from what I already have. I do have the floppy drive load up when the computer turns on.

I am not coming up with any other ideas, short of a complete re-install. One of the problems with doing that is that I do not have a full copy of Windows. All I have are restore CDs from their respective computers :(

I have read somewhere about freezing the hard drive, to get some temporary time. I do not have any clicking sounds that others were getting, but at this point, Im willing to try anything.
To Moderators: Im not trying to make an illegal copy.
If I can read the drive in another computer (as an external hard drive), but I can not read it as a primary hard drive; then, would it stand to reason that the drive itself is ok? If this is the case, then could I copy my Windows folder from one hard drive to another, and change out the Key from what it was?
 
SirJay said:
I have read somewhere about freezing the hard drive, to get some temporary time. I do not have any clicking sounds that others were getting, but at this point, Im willing to try anything.
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You really only do that if your HDD is clicking and you need to get that last bit of data off it.

As for the windows install. You have to reinstall windows. not just copy the windows folder to it. Any major changes like Motherboard or cpu normaly need a reinstall of windows.
 
It has been several days, but not much has happened because I had to prepare for Hurrican Rita. Thankfully, nothing happened.

I now have a Windows XP on cd (full version) and I booted the computer up with it. It is showing me a "system disk" error. Likely, I need to change around the boot order to verify that it boots from cd prior to hd.

Is there ANY way I can use this cd to load up windows to the hd as an external? The reason why I ask is because I can read it from my external box.
 
Update on the build:

I purchased a full, retail version of Windows XP Home (with sp2). I booted the computer up without it just long enough to enter the cd. I had already formatted the hard drive from another computer via an external hd box. Windows setup goes through all the steps, including the installation of several files (as noted on the bottom-right of the screen), and restarts the computer. When the computer comes back up (with the cd still in the drive), it goes right back to the "welcome to setup" screen, where I can chose between: set up Windows XP press <enter>, repair a Windows installation press <R>, quit installation press <F3>.

I go through the setup once again and I am going to list the EXACT steps I am doing and what is on the screen. Will someone please tell me what is wrong so I can get this computer running? :mad: :eek:

On the "welcome to setup" screen, I press <enter> to set up Windows XP. At the bottom of the sceen, it shows my hd space and location.

Next comes the "Terms of Service" screen. I press F8 to continue.

I now have 3 options for installation: C: Partition <unknown> 4371 MB (4370 MB free), d: Partition <unknown> 33784 MB (33784 MB free), and Unpartitioned space 7 MB. On the screen the C partition is already highlighted and my options are: set up Windows XP on selected item, press <enter>, create a partition in the unpartitioned space press c, and delete the selected partition press d. I press <enter> because the C partition is already highlighted and the other parts I can deal with after the installation is complete. This brings me to a screen that says this partition already has a opertaing system on it(ect...). To continue using this partition, press C or press <esc> to go back to the other screen. I press C.
<update> I tried to place it on the D: partition, but to goes to the next screen anyway showing c:


It now says "this partition is either too full, damaged, not formatted, or formatted with an incompatible file system." Formatting will erase all information on your partition. The 4 choices are: format with NTFS (quick), format with FAT (quick), format with NTFS, format with FAT. I selected the format with NTFS.
<correction> When I use the D partition, it does NOT have the FAT choices.

The next screen shows a progress bar and says formatting the partition 4371 MB on 38162 MB Disk 0 atapi (MBR). The total time is approximatly 5 minutes.

The next screen has another progress bar and says setup is copying files. On the bottom-right corner, files are being displayed, but they are too many and fast for me to list here. This progress bar takes longer, and hangs about 52%. It does not completely stop, and different files are being displayed in the bottom right hand corner. The progress is fast when it gets to 52%, but slows downs considerably after this. The entire progress bar takes about 15 minutes to finish.

The next screen says "Please wait while Windows configures your system".

The next screen says the computer needs to be restarted and setup will continue. The restart is automatic.

When the computer comes back up, I get the EXACT SAME ERROR MESSAGE as before: a disk read error occurred press CTRL+ALT+DEL to restart.
I am about to pull all my hair out. This is very irritating.
This is a CERTFIED Windows XP Home original. I actually spent well over $200 (after tax) for this. I can prove to anyone with a picture of the receipt and the box. Why is this install so difficult? I know the hd works because I can read everything from my external box.

As I await suggestions, I am going to try different options with the installation. Maybe I can install it on the other partition. Maybe I can remove the partitions completely and not have any at all (just one partition). At this point, I am willing to do anything other then purchasing a new hard drive. :(
 
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On the video card: I know I probably could have went with a better one, but it is made by the same company as the PCI one I want to use, so the chances of a conflict would be less.
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Why exactly would there be a conflict?

but I can hook up this monitor to another computer, and it comes on.
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So go into BIOS and set the primary video as AGP (or PCI if u want that)

I will be working on eliminating the possibilities and checking all the connections. I will remove the PCI card, one stick of 256 RAM, and one hard drive and see if it will come on with that. Any recommendations from the experts on other possibilities or items I should be concentrating on?
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So what exactly are you trying to boot the machine up with

The computer stopped, and displayed a "system disk error press CTRL+ALT+DEL to restart." I took out the HD and put this one in my external box, and my computer can read it. I did a scandisk on it, and no errors was found. I put it back in the new case, and the same error occurs. Any ideas or suggestions?
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You dont happen to have both drives on Master (or slave) do you?

I now have a Windows XP on cd (full version) and I booted the computer up with it. It is showing me a "system disk" error. Likely, I need to change around the boot order to verify that it boots from cd prior to hd.
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What exactly is the error and when does it appear?

it goes right back to the "welcome to setup" screen, where I can chose between: set up Windows XP press <enter>, repair a Windows installation press <R>, quit installation press <F3>.
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Remove the CD
 
<< Why exactly would there be a conflict?

I had problems before mixing AGP and PCI video cards. As of right now, both cards are in the computer, but I only use the AGP one until I can get Windows to load up.

<< So go into BIOS and set the primary video as AGP (or PCI if u want that)

It is set up properly in BIOS now for the AGP video card. I was under the impression it was a default, but it isnt.

<< So what exactly are you trying to boot the machine up with

Because I have been having so many problems installing XP, I wanted to eliminate pieces. At that point, I had only one hard drive and was going to put the other one in when I have XP loaded up.

<< You dont happen to have both drives on Master (or slave) do you?

I check both hard drives prior to installing them one at a time. I place the jumpers on cable select and connect it with the master ribbon cable. When it doesnt work, I take that hard drive out and put the other one in, using the same jumper and ribbon settings. I found that I get the same error if I have the jumpers on master or cable select, so I left them on CS so I do not lose them.

<< What exactly is the error and when does it appear?

The exact error message is as follows: "system disk error press CTRL+ALT+DEL to restart" It appears right under where it says "loading from CD press any key"

<< Remove the CD

This message is the exact same one that I get when I first started loading XP. It is not the graphical interface that tells me I am at the next step. There is something that is preventing my hard drive from loading up after the initial files are loaded from Windows. This is also the same message that I get when I press a key to let it load from the CD. If I do not press any key, then I get the error message that I mentioned.


Update: I purchased a brand new 80 GB HD, and I am getting the same errors as before. I called Microsoft again tonight and they said it could be something related to the hard drive controller. I have tried to press F5 to force load drivers from the motherboard's floppy, but it did not work. Also in F5, I can "force in" Windows to use another HAL to a generic ACPI pc-still nothing. While in Windows setup, it will not allow me to load from the motherboard CD. They also mentioned it has something to do with the MBR not working, but they could not offer a way to manually put it on the hard drive. Even going through the recovery console shows that fixboot and fixmbr does find and repair the errors, but when the computer is restarted, I still get the same error.
 
I had problems before mixing AGP and PCI video cards. As of right now, both cards are in the computer, but I only use the AGP one until I can get Windows to load up.
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If a conflict is gonna happen it'll happen regardless of the makes because as far as the BIOS is concerned any chip is gonna be running in VGA mode anyways

It is set up properly in BIOS now for the AGP video card. I was under the impression it was a default, but it isnt.
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Depends on the motherboard

Do you get the same error if you try to boot with only 1 HDD attached?
 
<<
Do you get the same error if you try to boot with only 1 HDD attached?

yes. same error with either HDD, and also the same error using both.
 
I can get the initial single beep for the POST, but I can not get the video to come up. I tried it with the monitor hooked up to the AGP card and the PCI one-still nothing. The light on the monitoredited does not even change, indicating to me that there is a problem with the signal. Currently, I am working on getting another monitor to test the computer on, but I can hook up this monitor to another computer, and it comes on. There are indicator lights on the motherboard that tells me that the motherboard is getting power. I can hear the hard drives trying to load up, but still nothing on the monitor. I actually got a picture one time, and it said something about the CMOS not being set-up right. I reset the CMOS, and tried it again, but it has not displayed anything after that. I put one of the hard drives in an external box and hooked it to a working computer and I was able to get a few trojans off, but it should not effect the fact that I can not even get to the BIOS/CMOS start-up screen. I can see all the fans working properly.
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I'm slightly confused .. where is the power indication LED? (and does it light up when power is connected)
nf8_lg.gif
 
That problem was taken care of. The indicator LED is SW of the battery. I apologize if it is really not an LED. I can only see it because the case I have it in has a see-through window.

The solution to my problem was actually right in front of my face the entire time. I was preplexed on why Windows would format, and restart without any problem. When it came back from the restart, I would get the error. This led me to believe the hard drive was not working properly. I was partially correct. I first put the old hard drive in, got the error and then put the new hard drive in with the same error. I switched out the ribbon cable with another one I had, but that still didnt do the trick. I was just about the take everything back, until my friend gave me some general advice: start completely over and compare it to a working model. It was sound advice.

I turned my working computer off, took it into another room(that had more space), and open up the case. It the other room, I took the non-working computer and dismantled it all the way down. I compared everything to the working computer. Of course, different models had different things, but many parts had similarities, except for one VERY important detail: the hard drive ribbon cable. Comparing the connections, they are identical, but the ribbon portion was different. The new computer had a 80-wire and the other one was a 40-wire. I was thinking-this couldnt be it. I rushed to the store and bought the 80-wire cable, put it in the computer (after I set the working one back up again), and turned it on. I went through the format once again and waited for the restart. NO ERROR. The computer finished Windows XP instalation and I couldnt be any happier.


Thank you all for your advice and comments.
 
I have a same problem, i just formated my windows vista and wanted to install XP home (ORGINAL) and i get Disk read error occured when it restarts.
 
handl3r said:
I have a same problem, i just formated my windows vista and wanted to install XP home (ORGINAL) and i get Disk read error occured when it restarts.
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Please make a new thread, as this one is 2 years old. Merry Christmas handl3r :)

PS - Run disk diagnostics from your manufacturer.
 
one thing i recommend is to do your research. i ended up going into fry's to check out the prices of some parts and was shocked. on top of that, there were new products and types of hardware that i have not ever known. good luck.
 
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